


Reggie-Elf

by GwendolynGrace



Series: Blackstory [11]
Category: Alternity - A Harry Potter Alternate Universe, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter Alternity - Fandom
Genre: Blackstory, Canon Backstory, Canon Compliant, Gen, HP Alternity, RPG
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 20:11:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4759421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GwendolynGrace/pseuds/GwendolynGrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius and James were not always at their best--especially when given the opportunity to torment Sirius's little brother, Regulus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reggie-Elf

**Author's Note:**

> Written 2008-2010. This is one of a series of "Blackstory" - backstory about the Blacks - that I wrote when playing in the RPG, HP Alternity. The actions depicted in this fic were approved by the players when written. Also, since it takes place prior to the point of divergence for the game, it can be considered canon-compliant.

1970

It was May, it was three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was shining, and Sirius Black was miserable.

It had started well enough. He and Regulus had been told to play in the back garden while Mother, Aunt Druella and some of their friends had a meeting on something. Something to do with St Mungo's, Sirius thought. He and Reg had been shown off for a minute or two, as usual, and then chivvied out into the sunshine.

'Can I see your wand?' Regulus started the moment they went outdoors.

'No, you can't.'

'Please?' Reg got that look, the one that said if Sirius didn't appease his brother, the little baby would start to cry or otherwise attract the wrong sort of attention.

'Oh, all right then,' Sirius said in exasperation. He pulled the slender stick out of the little holster attached to his robe pocket. 'See?'

Regulus made a grab for it and Sirius, anticipating the move, held it high above his head.

'See with your eyes, Reggie.'

'Don't call me that!'

'Reggie.'

'Stop it! You said I could see it. Lemme have it a sec - a minute,' Reg revised, too clever to fall for Sirius's trap twice.

'You can see it just fine - in my hand,' Sirius insisted. 'It's not a toy, Reg. Get your own wand if you want to play with one. Oh, wait....'

'I hate you. It's not my fault I don't have a real wand yet. Give over--' He jumped up and seemed to hang in the air, suspended, while Sirius danced out of the way. Regulus stopped grabbing for the wand. 'Sirius, look!'

'I see you, you're going to bring Mother out here if you--'

'Not at me, over there!' Reg pointed over the garden wall. Suddenly he dropped to the ground, landing in a tangle. 'Ow.'

'You okay?' Sirius asked sincerely.

'Yeah. Can you see?' Regulus scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off.

' _Scourgify!_ ' Sirius said to Regulus' robes. A few of the grass stains faded, but the robes were far from clean. 'Great. Did you have to go and get yourself all messy?'

Reg scowled. 'I didn't do it on _purpose_ , Sirius, now come on, come see!' He grabbed his brother's free hand and dragged him toward the wall. There was a spy hole formed where the mortar had flaked away between two of the flagstones. The boys had used it for years to spy on the Muggle neighbours next door, knowing that their father's enchantments on the house and garden kept them from being seen in return.

Sirius put his eye to the chink. On the other side, three boys a little older than he were coming home from school. They each wore dark blue blazers with a crest embroidered in gold on the left breast, white shirts with black neckties, grey trousers and black loafers. Sirius knew that one of the boys lived next door. His name was Stephen and he played cricket and football. He could see a second boy by the gate and recognised him as Stephen's friend Miles. The third boy was hidden by the wall, but he was speaking. He had to be Stephen's other friend William.

'Lemme see,' Reg whined, pushing Sirius's shoulder.

'In a minute,' Sirius said automatically. He slapped Reg's hand away.

'Can we hex them? What are they doing? Lemme see!' Reg slammed into him full-force. The impact set him off-balance and he rolled over onto the grass.

'Bother,' Sirius observed of his own newly dishevelled robes. ' _Scourgify!_ ' As before, the spell did little to help. He sighed and nudged Regulus out of the way again. 'I don't want to hex them,' he said thoughtfully. 'I want to play.'

'I want to play too!' Regulus piped loudly. Sirius rolled his eyes. Of course his brother wanted to play, too. He always wanted to do whatever Sirius was doing. Unless Mother was around, in which case Reg was much more likely to say that Sirius 'made' him do anything Mother wouldn't like.

'Do you really want to play, or are you just saying that?' Sirius asked warily.

Reg actually managed to look offended. 'I really want to play, Sirius,' he assured him.

'All right, but no telling Kreacher later.'

Reg nodded earnestly. 'I shan't.'

'Or Mother. Or Father,' Sirius pressed.

Reg shook his head more vigourously. 'I know, I shan't.'

'Swear?'

It was Regulus's turn to roll his eyes. He held up one hand. 'Or I'll wake up a Squib,' he said solemnly.

'Okay. Take off your robe.' He hastily unfastened his own, leaving the shirt and trousers underneath. 'Come on, we can slip out the back gate and no one'll notice, long as we're back for dinner.'

~*~

In Sirius's mind, his polite knock on the gate would be answered with equal politeness, and he would be invited to the innocent game of catch currently in progress. With four, they could even possibly put together a small side of cricket. Sirius had watched Stephen enough to feel he had the basics of the game well in hand, so he wouldn't seem too unfamiliar. Regulus, of course, would be forced to watch from the sidelines, since obviously the other boys would agree with him that his baby brother was too young to play properly.

It didn't work out that way at all.

He'd quite forgot that the same spells and protections that kept them hidden from the Muggles meant that Stephen had no idea the house next to his was Number Twelve. Instead of greeting the two boys as acquaintances, he had come to the gate with the caution reserved for the unknown.

'Hey, I've seen you two before,' Stephen said suddenly, while Sirius tried to stammer out an explanation. 'You live somewhere around here, do you?'

'Somewhere,' Sirius started to say.

'Right next door, of course!' Regulus interrupted proudly. 'But you wouldn't know that because you're Muggles.'

'Shut it, Reg,' Sirius muttered.

'We're what?' William, the biggest of the three boys, came over. 'What did the pipsqueak call us?'

'Nothing,' Sirius said hastily. 'He makes up words.'

'Did not! Sirius, why aren't they more respectful? Mother says we're their natural superiors.'

'Our superiors?' Miles now repeated. 'Stephen, they think they're bloody noblemen. Are you?'

'Yes, of course we are,' Regulus said, really warming to the topic and mistaking their skepticism for interest. 'The Most _Noble_ and Ancient House of Black.'

All three Muggle boys burst into gales of laughter. Regulus had pronounced the name with such sincere pomposity that even Sirius had trouble keeping a straight face. At least the boys weren't gearing up to drub them anymore, it seemed.

'Noble ... Black!' William wheezed out. 'Beggar Black, more like!'

'Worse than that, Will, I've seen them on the square,' Stephen said. 'Their mum makes them wear girls' frocks!' They dissolved into howls and jeers again.

'C'mon, Reg, let's go,' Sirius said dejectedly. He took Reg's elbow and steered him back to their own gate....

...Where Mother and her ladies were standing in the garden, admiring Mother's juniper and the patch of foxgloves.

Mother beckoned them over to her as soon as she saw them. She conducted them to the table where they'd left their robes. 'Looking for these?' she asked coldly.

Sirius hung his head. 'We ... didn't want them to get soiled,' he explained. His voice came out high and almost in a whisper.

'Liar,' Mother said without rancor. 'Regulus, what is the meaning of this?'

'We went ... for a walk?' Regulus ventured, but the questioning way he said it, as if imploring her to believe him, gave the lie as easily as if he'd simply tattled.

'Two liars,' Mother pronounced. 'I heard you on the other side of the wall. Go to your rooms immediately.'

Sirius picked up his robes and complied in silence. If he'd been able to play for a little while, getting caught might have been worth the risk, but it felt supremely unfair to be in trouble for talking to the Muggle boys when all they'd done was laugh at him. It was Reg's fault, too - Reg had been the one to spout off about being wizards, after Sirius had taken the trouble to make them look more like Muggles - but as it had not been his brother's idea to go, of course Reg would surely duck all the blame.

He was almost to their rooms atop the stairs when he realised Reg was no longer right behind him. 'Probably went and hid with that wretched elf,' Sirius told himself. Reg could get away with that sort of thing - another thing that was completely unfair - and no doubt when Mother finally found him the sight would be so piteous that she'd give him biscuits and tea and no punishment. Had Sirius tried the same tactic, he knew, she'd have accused him of weakness and cowardice and possibly sent him to his father for further humiliation.

He wondered where Reg had gone, but knew better than to go look. Instead, he went into his room as ordered, to await his due sentence.

~*~

1971

It wasn't until much later that Sirius discovered where Regulus disappeared to when he felt the need to hide. It was his first summer home from Hogwarts, and for the first time in his life, he had someone to invite to visit.

Not that it would be easy to convince his parents. They considered the Potters next to blood traitors; the Pettigrews were purebloods, but nobodies; and Lupin was ... well, he still wasn't sure what Lupin was, or why he had to go home so often during the year. He was pretty sure his parents would object to a half-blood, anyway, and whatever else Lupin was hiding, he was certainly not a pureblood wizard. He decided the best course would be to stick only to James, which was just as well, since he and James were probably closest of all his roommates, anyway.

(Which was odd, in itself, considering how they'd started - but then, they'd had their common dislike of Snivellus Snape to bring them together.)

It had taken a solid week and nearly all Sirius's skills, but he'd finally managed to procure the invitation. Mother had written to Mrs Potter on her best stationery and sent the family owl to deliver it. Then she said they'd have to wait for the response.

Sirius hated waiting. It was impossible to keep still, for one thing. At first he went up to the library to read, but he couldn't concentrate. He kept going to the windows to see if he could see their owl returning. He went up to his room to practise spells, but he had mastered them all by now and Mother hadn't purchased his textbooks for second year yet. He even knocked on Regulus's door to see if he wanted to go duel in the back garden.

It was also odd, actually, that Reg wasn't dogging his every step. When he'd come home at Christmas and Easter, Reg had barely left him alone to have a pee, much less avoided him all day. Even in the week since he'd come home, Reg had rarely been absent. He decided to search for his brother.

He looked all through Reg's room, his own room and the library. He crept into his father's office and checked under the massive desk, behind the curtains and inside the cupboard. He looked through the sitting room and the formal dining hall. He went down to the kitchens, but Kreacher was alone and said he hadn't seen Regulus all day.

'Is the young master well?' Kreacher asked, eyes narrowing.

'I'm sure he's fine,' Sirius answered hotly. 'He's just hiding.'

'Ah, Master Regulus does like to hide,' Kreacher said fondly.

'He does?' Sirius frowned. 'Where?'

But Kreacher shook his grotesque head and simply said, 'Kreacher could not say. Does Mistress want Master Regulus?'

'No, _I'm_ looking for him,' Sirius explained in frustration. 'Can't you see that?'

Kreacher shrugged. 'Then Master Sirius had best continue looking, hadn't he?'

'Ugh, you're no help at all!' Sirius pronounced. He stomped back up the stairs to the front hallway.

'Sirius!' Mother called from her salon. 'Come here.'

Sirius felt a little jolt of excitement and rushed into the salon. He knew even before she told him that the Potters had returned their answer. James was coming! All thought of finding Reg Disapparated from his head in the rush of anticipation.

~*~

'Didn't you say you have a brother?' James teased after Sirius had given him the grand tour. They were in his room, both cross-legged on his bed, playing Exploding Snap.

'Yeah, you saw his room.'

'Technically, I saw his door,' James corrected. 'But from the way you say he's always pestering you, I thought we'd see him about.' He laid out his card and picked up another to end the hand. Then he tapped his chin thoughtfully. 'You haven't killed him, have you?'

'Not yet,' Sirius said darkly.

'Sure? You didn't stuff him in a trunk in your cellar or get your elf to chop him into stew meat?'

Sirius snorted. 'As if. Kreacher'd rather chop me into stew meat. He dotes on the little goblin. Surprised Reg doesn't go live in Kreacher's nest, down the kitchens.'

'How do you know he's not?' James said.

Sirius shrugged. 'He hides sometimes; he's weird. You'll see him at tea. Maybe supper.'

'I want to meet him, though, not with your parents round,' James said. 'C'mon, I don't have a little brother.'

'They're over-rated,' Sirius warned.

'Come on, let's find him.'

Sirius sighed. 'Let's finish the game,' he said and laid down his card.

'Okay,' James put down a card and there was a large SNAP as the stack exploded. 'Game's over. Let's look.'

~*~

Look they did, once more, everywhere in the house. They finally trudged back up the stairs, having been told sternly that tea would be served in one hour. Sirius knocked on Reg's door once more. 'Reg? Reg-gie?'

He looked over his shoulder at James. 'He hates anyone to call him Reggie. Figured that'd get a reaction if nothing else.' He frowned at the door and turned the knob slowly. The door swung open with a small creaking noise, but Regulus was nowhere inside.

'Would he have left the house?' James asked.

'Not bloody likely,' Sirius replied. 'There's only one place we haven't looked, but ....'

'What?'

'Well, I can't imagine he'd go there.'

'Where?'

'My ... my parents' room.' Just saying it aloud made Sirius shiver a little.

The master bedroom was really more of a suite, with its own sitting room and his parents' large bedroom beyond. There were two small rooms off the suite as well: one was his father's private chamber, where Sirius believed he slept most of the time; and the private bath. And there was also his mother's dressing room, which could only be accessed through the bedroom itself.

'Wow,' James said when they tiptoed into the antechamber.

Sirius only grunted and pressed on, committed now to search and get out as quickly as possible. He opened the inner doors one at at time, but could only trust himself to call out 'Reg?' in an exaggerated stage whisper, before moving on.

'Have a proper look,' James insisted. He opened the door to the main bedroom and strode inside. 'There's another room here,' James called out, as if Sirius didn't already know the layout of his own house. He followed as James opened the door on their right, into Mother's dressing room.

A huge cupboard stood at the end, four doors wide. A vanity took up much of the right wall, with an ornate chair in front of it. A high boy stood opposite. As they entered, the mirror above the vanity said sharply, 'Oh, no! Not _more_ dirty little boys!'

'More?' James said, his face splitting in a wide grin. He widened his eyes at Sirius and pointed silently to the cupboard doors. Sirius nodded and they each crept up before two doors.

'On three?' James mouthed. Sirius nodded again. They mouthed the count together, heads bobbing in time. On the silent "Three!", both boys flung their two doors open and sprang back to see what they revealed.

Regulus was huddled on the floor, in the farthest corner of the cupboard. He had fallen asleep on a little bed made up of Mother's fur outer robes and a few of her fluffiest crinolines. He started awake at the sudden change in light and the sound of the doors opening.

Sirius pointed and shrieked with laughter. He laughed so hard he staggered backward. James leapt over to look as well. 'Oh my God!' Sirius choked out, using an expression he'd adopted from Lupin. 'You freak! Mum's clothes? You really wish you were a house-elf, just like Kreacher!'

Regulus pushed to his knees and burst past Sirius and James, running full-tilt out of the room.

James and Sirius followed, still hooting with laughter. 'Reggie the house-elf!' Sirius taunted. 'Reggie! Reggie the house-elf!'

They chased Reg back up the stairs, egging each other on the whole way. Regulus slammed his door shut on them and Sirius heard the click of the lock, but he still pounded on the door anyway. 'Reggie! That's not on, Reggie, come on, if you're going to sleep like a house-elf you've got to serve like one, too!'

'Yeah, c'mon, it's nearly tea-time, Reggie!' James added. 'Next he'll be trading robes for tea-towels,' he said, snorting with laughter again.

'GO AWAY!' Reg shouted through the door.

'Not until you say you're just a big house-elf,' Sirius insisted. He knew that Mother or Father might come up, with the racket they were making, but with James here he felt invincible.

'SHUT UP! I _HATE_ YOU!' Reg called back.

'Wait, wait, back up,' James said, pulling on Sirius's arm. Sirius backed away as James drew his wand. ' _Alohomora!_ ' James intoned, pointing at the lock.

The handle glowed for an instant. James turned the knob. The door gave, but Regulus shoved something against it and it closed again. 'I've got my wand,' Regulus threatened.

'Yeah, but can you _do_ anything with it yet? Say it, Reg!' Sirius pushed on the door along with James. 'Say you just want to be a house-elf!'

'NO!'

'Say it or we'll come in when you're asleep and tie your toes together!'

' _NO!!_ '

'Say it!' Sirius and James both said together.

' **NO!!!** '

Suddenly the whole door glowed hot and Sirius and James jumped back. They blew on their hands to cool them.

'Leave it, just leave it,' Sirius said to James. 'If he keeps on like that Mother will hear us. We'll get him later.'

~*~

The next morning, Regulus woke up to find that his bedsheets and covers had been replaced by nothing but tea towels. His clothes had all been emptied from the wardrobes and cupboards and chests, and in their place were towels, pillowcases, potholders and pinneys, Instead of his hat, Sirius and James had left him a tea cosy. Even his pants were gone.

'Kreacher!' he said, biting back tears.

There was a crack and the elf appeared.

He mustered all the dignity he could and said, 'I need my clothes back.' The elf merely nodded and disappeared. It took him ten minutes to restore Regulus's possessions, during which time Regulus cried silently, so that Sirius wouldn't hear.


End file.
